HANSFORD ROWE COLLECTIVE

Reportedly a self-taught musician, Rowe was known about holding a simple, yet very solid and effective bottom. Apart from the odd, funky slap on the bass as a fill, improvisation was not his forte. His solo project here finds him in a territory that bears little semblance to Gong.

In a word this album is lame. As lame as it can be. Devoid of any effort to create something outstanding, more like as if the opposite was their aim. This is soft, almost smooth lounge music of shopping center/elevator sort. Pleasant enough as it may be with soft vocals, there is practically nothing memorable about it, nothing to hold onto - which makes it difficult to describe it in any detail. Rowe's bass is prominent in the mix and there is nothing really wrong with it, but equally, nothing exciting, either.

This is Prog only by association, but not in it's delivery and would leave Gong fans somewhat bemused and disappointed. For some reason it's listed under Jazz-Rock/Fusion whereas I feel that Prog-Related would be a more appropriate tag for this project. A typical example for the "Collectors/Fans only" rating. In Prog terms I could not call it good, nor would I recommend it for any particular reason.